Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

9/14 – Yankees vs. Angels

Hello on a beautiful late summer evening here in the Bronx, with temperatures in the very comfortable seventies and clear skies beginning to turn to dusk over Yankee Stadium.

As you’d imagine, part of the pregame discussion concerned the novelty of playing a one-game series here against the Angels, making up a May 3 rainout. The Yankees probably lucked out on that one — it was five days later that Alex Rodriguez returned and helped them become the best team in the big leagues since then, going 79-31 (.681) to lead the circuit.

But these Angels, with their pesky, push-the-envelope approach, are no pushovers — you might say the Yankees have the same questions to answer with the Angels that they did with the Red Sox. The Angels’ record since May 8 is the second best in the big leagues at 73-42, and they enter play here trailing the Yankees by just six wins for the best record in the Majors. There’s still a lot that can happen between here and October, so yes, this is an important game.

How far will Joba Chamberlain go tonight? You’d imagine it’ll be more than the three innings he pitched in his last three starts, and that’s certainly the plan. But we’ll have to see if he can find his efficiency and handle an Angels lineup that knows what to do against tough pitching.

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13 Comments

I have been watching for two weeks were the Yankees are slipping. You don’t win the division until you have won it. Giradi can fool around, but I have seen a lot of teams lose the division when look like a cake walk. Now I heard Petite shoulder is acting up, Damon is not as sharp and Burnett ever since he tried to blame Posada for him starting to choke, I am not happy. Giradi you better look at history. All those runs being scored will stop in the play-off. Good pitching is the key.

Joe mentions how important it is to win and have home team advantage in the playoffs, If true why did he leave Pettite in so long? and the replace him with a stiff like Marte. “If”, there’s that big little word again, he pulled Andy and replaced him with a pitcher things may have been different.

rza and reginald – hey fellas. Obviously you are not baseball knowledgable. Joba is the Yankee future and believe it. I do.

1. He has pitches 4 +.
2. He has a total of 268 IP in the majors. 268.
3. Most elite pitchers have 268 IP in the minors alone.
4. He has the physical make up to be a starter.
5. This year with Wang in the rotation would have been a
no brainer. Wang’s injury upset the entire rotation and also
changed the plans for Joba’s development.
6. With Wang healthy in the rotation the Yankees would be at 100 games won already. Can you imagine that.
Joba could have blissfully pitched out of the 5th spot developing as a starter w/o any stress and Joba rules. He should have had at 12-14 wins by now.

You know he has the tools to be an elite pitcher – just give him time. Phil was given more time than Joba but I don’t hear any complaints against him now.

i agree with rza1213 joba in 07 was the next big thing for yankees we know what he did out the pen i’m just curious what happen to his 100mph fastball i know he’s a starter now but 91 to 93 mph then he throws four seam fastball that have no moment at all hence he wants to be aj burnett & throw nothing but curveballs or breaking balls he really needs to develope at 2 seam fastball with movement cause i’m sure he doesn’t have the 100mph in himself anymore the yankees must realize & stop kidding their self joba is not will not ever be an ace joba at this point is no more than an average pitcher he’s no better than a #5 starter at best when hank steinbrenner claim he’s the next josh beckett i’m glad i didn’t drink to kool aid on that day aj & jobe needs to figure out how to get batters out or mark my words this will be a one & done post season for the yankees

/\ What are they talkin’ about? Joba has been shaky lately but he is young and yet to learn to pitch better. One mistake to Vlad Guerrero and that was it; also he is not being economical because he knows he will only pitch a limited amount of innings. On the other hand I have some concerns about Robinson Cano, he is having a good season defensively and offensively but his inability to produce in the clutch has diminished a whole lot. With the bases empty he is hitting .369 but with RISP his AVE is 208 and with RISP w/2 outs he is only hitting .194. Hugh drop right? I don’t know what the reason is but I’m guessing is psychological, is got to be, hi is too good of a hitter to have those poor numbers in situational hitting.

rza1213; I assume you meant Halliday, the Blue Jays starter and not Holliday, the left fielder now of the Cardinals. Either way, the trade makes no sense. I do hope the Yankees sign Holliday in free agency and if Halliday can be aquired at a reasonable price from the Jays so much the better. Though you don’t move a potential future stud for either an outfielder or a veteran ace. We’d get 5 good years if we were lucky from Halliday, we might get 15 from Joba. This kid has great potential, and once the training wheels come of we could see special stuff . Anyway I don’t get the rant today, he was pulled after 4 innings due to pitching restrictions. He gave up 1 run. Not exactly “junk”

Joe G. should have let the kid pitch the top of the fifth. Maybe the Yanks score in the bottom of the inning and he gets a win. If this kid ends up with a sore arm in the playoffs, it will be the first time ever that it occured from under usage.

I really want to know…..why the fk do we deal w/Joba – bench this momo or send em down to the minors! I will trade this guy in an eye blink – I have no idea why the Yankees did not try to get rid of this junk and get Holliday. Mark my words, Joba will surmount to nothing – he is all hype and will be a bust if we do not put him in the pen. As a starter, Joba will never win more than 10-11 games at best – this guy has been regarded as an Ace? Please! This guy is a serious mess!

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